The Dead Planet Series: Exodus (Book 1)

by Drew Avera

  Chapter 16

  I pulled my communicator from my pocket as I left the palace. I could see a medical crew cleaning up the remains of the policeman I had killed no more than twenty minutes ago. I supposed someone called it in after the circus of people died down a little. I turned my communicator on and scrolled through the list of names that White had sent me. Most of the names were not known to me, but I could recognize a few who lived here in Archea. The first name I noticed was Martis Ceane, an older, very powerful man in the Syndicate. He ran a company that controlled most of the technological research that we benefited from here on Mars. He shared his business ventures with a short list of other prominent men who had their hands in other businesses. It was a spider web connecting these men to all kinds of business relations that blurred the line between who was in charge and who was merely a participant. Did I think Martis had my sister? Most likely no, but I was sure that with his connections and his name being on the list that there was a greater chance that he knew who did have Kara.

  I headed west towards Ceane's office. It was only a few miles away and he was sure to be at work at this time of day. I walked out in the open daylight keeping a watchful eye out for a potential threat. I didn't want to be surprised by another hit attempt because I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. Now wasn't the time for autopilot or any knee jerk reactions, I was on a mission, and if I wanted to succeed then I needed to stay focused.

  It took me about an hour to reach Ceane's office building. It was about thirty stories tall and I could not remember ever being inside of it. I walked into the lobby which was lush with decorations that showed off his financial power in a much less gaudy way than the palace, but it was still sickening to see that kind of waste. I saw a directory illuminated on a wall next to an elevator and I walked over to see where Mathis Ceane's office was located. According to the directory it was on the twenty seventh floor. I pressed the up button for the elevator and waited for the door to open.

  The elevator was not as nice as the palace but the building was much larger and served as a business that employed thousands of people. Sometimes function was more important than looks. The elevator doors opened on the twenty seventh floor and I stepped out into a large room equipped with large banquet tables decorated with fresh roses. There were bottles of wine set on display and soft music was playing from a speaker system in the ceiling. I stood there a moment trying to figure out which door on the other end of the room might lead me to Ceane's office. All of a sudden one of the doors on the right opened and Mathis stepped out with a double handful of wine bottles. He didn't even notice that I was in the room until I spoke.

  "Mathis Ceane," I said. He stopped and looked in my direction, almost falling over when he realized who I was. He rebounded quickly and composed himself before speaking.

  "Yes. How can I help you," he said in a very businesslike manner.

  "I'm here to get information about the abduction of my sister Kara." I said to him.

  "I had nothing to do with that," he said as he turned to focus on the placement of his wine bottles.

  "I didn't accuse you of having anything to do with it, but I do know that you are a man well connected. A man who has his hands in many things. I'm sure that you have at least some knowledge of what happened to Kara."

  "I assure you I don't." He said. "Thanks for stopping by. If you'll excuse me." He avoided eye contact with me as he scurried on about his business, ignoring me and my plight trying to find Kara. He was lying and I was certain of it. Mathis went to set a wine bottle on one of the long banquet tables across the room and I had enough of the run around. He would tell me what I needed to hear, I thought to myself. I fired my gauntlet and a blue beam shattered the wine bottle in his hand sending wine all over the table and it dripped onto the expensive carpet in the room.

  Mathis screamed in fear and stepped back. Blood ran down his hand from being cut by the bottle when it shattered. That wasn't my concern. As far as I was concerned his time was limited today.

  "Are you crazy?" He cried. "Do you know who I am? What I have the power to do to you?" He was frantic, afraid, and I liked it.

  "I know exactly who you are." I said. "You are one of the highest ranking board members of the Syndicate. You have the authority to make my life a living hell, which is no small feat considering the training I underwent to become a policeman. Now I have the same question for you. Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am going to do to you if you don't answer my questions?" I asked in a loud voice. I was angry. I was fed up with the charade, the politics. I was ready to end him here and now, but I desperately needed information first. I had to calm down and get what I came for. My emotions were peaked and my programming was making it hard for me take control of my actions. I tried to slow down my breathing and regain control.

  "What is it you want to know?" He asked. "I had nothing to do with her abduction."

  "Is she alive?" My first question came out with a little more anxiety to it than I could avoid.

  "I imagine that she is." He said. “For now at least.”

  "Who took her?" I asked with more control in my voice.

  "Now that's privileged information." He said. Wrong answer. I fired my gauntlet within a few inches of his head; the beam burned a hole into the stone work behind him. "No! Please stop! I'll tell you!" He pleaded.

  "Start talking now or the next one will be on target." I said.

  "It was Sorell." He said. "I have a business relationship with him. He runs the facility that your sister worked at. I don't think he intends to harm her. I think he just wants to use her to try and figure out a way to save the magnetic field." He was lying and I could feel it.

  "Don't you dare lie to me, Ceane!"

  "I'm serious. It was Sorell!" He cried.

  "Where is he?" I asked.

  "He has an office at the university where Kara worked. He is a cautious man who is afraid of tall buildings. His office is on the first floor." Now it seemed that Mathis was being a bit too helpful. I was confused by this and decided to press harder.

  "What is his plan, Mathis?"

  "Just to save the field. Not everyone in the Syndicate wants to leave this planet. It's our home." He said.

  "Kara said the uranium wasn't enriched and without that process being performed then the whole planet was doomed. How does he plan on saving the field?" I asked.

  "I don't know the science of it. I just know that is his plan, save the planet and take all the credit."

  I walked around the room pacing. It was plausible but he gave me the information a little too freely for my taste. He was obviously up to something. It was either a set up to trap me or he was setting Sorell up for betrayal. Either way I didn't really care. I believed that Sorell was the one who had Kara held captive. Whether or no she was still alive or if this was a setup to get to me was another set of questions that I didn't want to focus on at the moment.

  Ceane was standing still and starring at me, watching me pace around the room. I didn't like the expression on his face, the thoughts that must have been running through his mind. If I left him here alive he would surely contact Sorell and let him know I was on my way. That action could get Kara killed. I only had one option I thought to myself before I lifted my gauntlet and fired into Ceane's chest. The beam had been set on full blast and it carved a hole in his chest about the size of a grapefruit. Blood and chunks of meat splattered on the stonework behind him.

  I pulled out my communicator and scrolled through the names. Once I found ‘Mathis Ceane’ on the list I deleted it. I then scrolled to find Delyn Sorell. I hadn't made the connection before, but now it made sense. He probably knew Kara personally from the university. He would have the necessary knowledge about her to link her to our father's apartment where she was hiding. That put him next on the list, next to meet my gauntlet. He better hope for his own sake that Kara was alive. Otherwise his death would be drawn out as morbidly as I could make it. I stepped back into the el
evator when the doors reopened, leaving Ceane's body to be found by an aid or other business associate. There had been a lot of blood on my hands the past few days. There would be more before I was finished. I was sure of it.